This week I have been working in the constituency as parliament has now risen for the Christmas Recess, and I was not required there this week, so I have been making the most of this time by meeting with constituents and businesses.
I have also had the pleasure of being invited to attend festive events taking place in the constituency. A particular highlight so far has to be St Dennis Band’s Christmas concert, which was good fun and certainly got us in the Christmas spirit. A brilliant evening was had by all, so well done to everyone involved.
I am now looking forward to taking some time off with my family later this week for Christmas and hope you will also be able to enjoy the festive season with your friends and family and celebrate this special day.
However, I am aware that there will be many people who will be working over the Christmas period and so would just like to take this opportunity to thank all those in our NHS and care sectors, those who work in retail and hospitality, our local police and other emergency services and our armed forces who keep us, and others, safe all over the world, all year round. Thank you for all you do and when you do get the chance to celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a good one.
I appreciate that this year has been a challenging one for constituents and also in Parliament and for the government as we seek to tackle the many difficult issues we, as a country, face.
In January the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, promised to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut NHS waiting lists, and stop the boats. I am pleased to see that the government is making good progress with these priorities.
Inflation is down by more than 50 per cent, we continue to see record levels of employment, the NHS waiting list has dropped and the numbers of illegal immigrants coming via small boats across the channel is down by a third.
One of the issues that constituents continue to raise with me is the challenges the NHS faces here in Cornwall and huge pressures and demand on our services.
I have continued to raise these concerns with Ministers and the government has made record funding available for the NHS to improve elective, urgent and emergency, and primary care performance to pre-pandemic levels.
However, we know we must also have the workforce in place to give people the treatment and care they need. That is why I am pleased to see the government has delivered the additional 50,000 nurses promised in 2019 and we have more doctors than ever to deliver extra appointments, speed up diagnoses and tackle the COVID-19 backlog.
But while the government has been making progress to cut waiting times, we cannot forget the significant impact the NHS strikes have had on patients, NHS staff and efforts to cut waiting lists. This has seen over one million postponed appointments and procedures and is something the government is currently looking to address.
We also reached our commitment to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers and we now have a record number in Devon and Cornwall Police.
On a more personal note, this year also saw my resignation from government. Over the summer recess I decided that I was going to be leaving government at the time of the next reshuffle and last month resigned from my role as lord commissioner of the Treasury in the government’s whips office.
I have now returned to the back benches where I have spoken out on a range of issues which affect the constituency, including missed GP appointments, housing in tourist destinations such as Mevagissey and Fowey, and levelling-up.
I plan to continue to represent the people of Mid-Cornwall, who have always been my priority, into next year.
For now, I would like to take the opportunity to wish all readers a very Merry Christmas.
My office will be closed from 12:30pm on December 22 and reopen at 10am on January 2. However, you can still contact me by emailing: steve.double.mp@parliament.uk or calling 01726 829379 and leaving a message. I will get back to anyone requiring urgent help.
